Book Nook

Richard Cohen has had it with the family dog. Jasper, the mutt in question, drives Cohen around the bend. Jasper barks all the time and the sound of that bark is lacerating. This dog is in constant motion, barking, scurrying around the house, and when Cohen's spouse the TV star Meredith Vieira is home, Jasper is fiercely protective of her. He won't let Cohen near her.

A few years ago Julie Klam wrote a book called "You Had Me At Woof." It was the story of Otto, a Boston terrier that stole Julie's heart and changed her life. Her relationship with Otto helped her to forge more enduring bonds with people. Klam has some very close friendships. Her latest book, "Friendkeeping - a Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can't Live Without," takes readers inside Julie's world. We meet her dearest friends.

Jasper Fforde is at it again. In "The Woman Who Died a Lot," the seventh book in his absurdist fantasy crime fiction series, we spend a week with Thursday Next, the leading enforcement officer from the Bookworld.

As the story opens Thursday is still recuperating from some of the injuries that she sustained in a previous book when she is offered the gig as chief librarian at the Swindon All-You-Can-Eat-at-Fatso's-Drink Not Included Library.

The development of the railroad system in America was instrumental in the expansion of the nation that took place during the 19th Century. Without the railroads things might have turned out rather differently.

Christian Wolmar has written extensively about railroads. In "The Great Railroad Revolution," Wolmar's scintillating history of the development of the railroad system in America, readers will discover how this crucial expansion of railroads took place.

Russ Kick is the editor of an ambitious project called The Graphic Canon.  This three volume series covers classics of literature rendered in an stunning range of graphic art forms.

The series begins at the dawn of literature with the Epic of Gilgamesh.  The third and final edition of the Graphic Canon will cover literature of the 20th Century and will be issued next March. In this interview Russ Kick describes how he conceived of this project and then proceeded to bring it to fruition.